49er QB Tolzien among potential backups

Scott Tolzien paid a price for some of the praise he earned after his impressive performance in Friday’s preseason win over the Vikings.

On third-and-10 early in the third quarter, Tolzien stood his ground as Minnesota safety Andrew Sendejo leveled him and tossed a perfectly placed pass to wideout Nathan Palmer, who dropped a potential 15-yard reception.

“I thought he did some really exceptional things,” coach Jim Harbaugh said of Tolzien. “He made a great play on the hit, got the strong safety blitz, took it right in the teeth and threw a great, accurate ball there.”

Tolzien, who completed 10 of 13 passes for 84 yards with an interception, made a series of on-the-spot throws against the Vikings’ reserves. Of his three incompletions, two were drops. On his final pass, his arm was hit as he threw and the ball fluttered into the hands of Vikings linebacker Solomon Elimimian.

Tolzien entered the game as the presumptive No. 4 quarterback, but saw action before Josh Johnson, who completed 2 of 4 passes for 30 yards in mop-up duty. Johnson was expected to serve as Colin Kaepernick‘s primary competition for the backup spot behind Alex Smith, but Tolzien has inserted himself into the discussion.

Kaepernick completed 5 of 9 passes for 40 yards – he had one pass dropped and another incompletion came when he spiked the ball to stop the clock. He added 92 yards on three carries and outran Vikings cornerback Chris Cook on a 78-yard, second-quarter touchdown run.

It was a solid performance, but it wasn’t the only notable effort from one of San Francisco’s reserve signal-callers.

Asked if he’d solidified his hold on the No. 2 job, Kaepernick smiled.

“We have a lot of competing left before we find that out,” he said.

Depth addressed: With their numbers at outside linebacker dwindling, the 49ers added depth to the position by signing former Oregon standout Kenny Rowe to a two-year contract.

Outside linebacker Aldon Smith left Friday’s game with a hip injury, according to the team. The 49ers drafted two outside linebackers in April, but neither dressed for the preseason opener. Fifth-round pick Darius Fleming will probably miss the season with a torn ACL and seventh-rounder Cam Johnson is not fully recovered after undergoing knee surgery in early June.

Rowe, 23, who was among San Francisco’s final cuts in September, was a second-team, all-Pac-10 selection as a senior when he had seven sacks and 16 1/2 tackles for a loss and was tied for second in the nation with five forced fumbles. The 49ers also waived safety Mark LeGree, who spent time on their practice squad last year. There is still an open spot on the 89-man roster.

A friend in Fitz: After Friday’s win, wide receiver Kyle Williams expected to receive a supportive text message from a somewhat surprising source: the enemy.

As it turns out, one of Williams’ big fans is Larry Fitzgerald, the six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver for the Cardinals, the 49ers’ NFC West rivals.

The pair met when Williams, 24, was playing at Arizona State and Fitzgerald, 28, was in the early stages of his NFL career. During last year’s lockout, Fitzgerald paid for a group of 20 to 30 players to work out at ASU and Williams was among a handful that didn’t play for the Cardinals.

Fitzgerald taught Williams, coming off an injury-plagued, one-catch rookie season, how to train like a pro.

“He saw me maybe when I wasn’t working as hard as I possibly could work,” Williams said. “I wouldn’t say I was exactly slacking, but he kind of saw it and he said ‘You’ve got to be the hardest-working guy if you want to be the best. If you want to get to the next level, you’ve got to push yourself to the absolute limit.’ Since then, he’s been like a big brother.”

After Williams’ two punt-return fumbles in last year’s NFC Championship Game, Fitzgerald told him to use the adversity as a “motivating force.”